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More Sudanese Reactions; Jan Eliasson's Roadmap for Peace; Sarkozy Arranges Meeting on Darfur Peace Talks; Human Rights Watch Media Statement

12 June 2007

Dear all,

Please find below excerpts from media articles reporting on the reaction of the Sudanese government to the ICC prosecutor's call for the arrest and surrender of the two named suspects, along with more on the peace process.

Please take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC (below), which explicitly states that the CICC will not take a position on potential or pending situations before the court. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

Regards,

Mariana Rodriguez Pareja
CICC Spanish Information Services Officer and Latin America Analyst
[email protected]

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I. CONTINUED SUDANESE REACTION TO PROSECUTOR'S SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFING

i. "Sudan adamant on Darfur 'atrocities' suspects," Agence France Press as reported in Sudan Tribune, 9 June 2007, http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article22297

"Sudan insisted on Saturday that it would not succumb to pressure and arrest two officials accused by the International Criminal Court of atrocities in the troubled region of Darfur.

'The position of the government concerning persons sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is clear and there is no room for bargaining on this subject,' Presidential Assistant Nafaa Ali Nafaa told the pro-ruling party SMC news service. He said Sudan stands by the position announced by President Omar al-Bashir, which is to refuse to hand over Ahmed Haroun, the secretary of state for humanitarian affairs, and pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib. Khartoum sees the international pressure to hand over the suspects as part of a 'hostile campaign' by the West to get it to accept a robust peacekeeping force in Darfur, Nafaa said....Interior Minister Zubeir Beshir Taha lashed out at Moreno-Ocampo, telling reporters that if the ICC prosecutor were in search of justice, he should focus on 'those who committed war crimes in Guantanamo, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. I tell the whole world that Haroun and Kosheib are in safe hands and are not at all worried,' he added...."

ii. "Khartoum adamant on Darfur 'atrocities' suspects: Presidential assistant says Sudan stands by Bashir's position not to hand over Haroun, Kosheib,"by Mohamed Hasni, Middle East Online, 9 June 2007,
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21029

"...Sudan has grudgingly accepted a UN force in Darfur though the troops' mandate is still under discussion. The proposal is for the deployment of a 23,000-strong peace-keeping force to replace the current 7,000 African Union soldiers in the region.

The UN wants its own command system but Sudan wants the force to be under African control. The question is to be addressed during a meeting that will group Sudan, the African Union, and the United Nations in Addis Ababa on Monday and Tuesday.

[Presidential Assistant Nafaa Ali] Nafaa's statements followed a call on Friday by the Group of Eight powers for action against 'the perpetrators of atrocities' in Darfur and a commitment to back UN action against the Sudanese government and rebel groups if the conflict is not ended. International pressure is mounting on Sudan to allow the deployment of the UN force to bolster AU troops, and the G8 countries urged Khartoum to back the force...."

iii. "ICC prosecutor is a junior employee doing cheap work: Sudan," Sudan Tribune, 11 June 2007,
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article22313

"The Sudanese interior minister lashed out at the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo, vowing not to hand over any Sudanese citizen.

Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha said that Ocampo is nothing but a 'junior employee doing cheap work.'...Sudan's Justice Minister Ali Al Mardi said that any attempts to arrest Harun and Kushayb through the Interpol amounts to 'kidnapping and international piracy.' The Sudanese presidential adviser Nafi Ali Nafi reiterated his government's position of refusing to hand over Haroun and Kushayb. He said that Khartoum's position on this issue is 'not negotiable.' However Ocampo expressed confidence that the arrest warrants against the two Darfur war crime suspects will be executed after meeting with the Secretary-General of the Arab league Amr Moussa in Cairo earlier this month...."

B. JAN ELIASSON LAYS OUT ROAD MAP FOR PEACE IN DARFUR

"UN envoy lays out road map towards peace in Darfur," UN News Service, 8 June 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22842&Cr=sudan&Cr1=

"The United Nations Special Envoy to Darfur today laid out 'a road map towards peace' in the war-ravaged region of the Sudan, calling on all parties to cease hostilities and prepare for forthcoming negotiations. There are three stages of the road map for the coming months, Jan Eliasson told reporters after briefing the Security Council.

Firstly, 'there have been tendencies in the past of initiatives being conducted in parallel rather than in a converging pattern' so such efforts must be united, he said.

The second phase entails pre-negotiation, which will involve 'shuttle diplomacy' to both the Government in the capital Khartoum and to non-signatories to last year's Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). Lastly, he said that he hoped invitations to peace negotiations will be issued 'during the course of the summer.'...Mr. Eliasson voiced hope in the role the AU and UN can play in serving as 'a catalyst for bringing everyone on-board.'

Yesterday, at the Security Council, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for the arrest of the two suspects - a militia leader and the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs - wanted to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The UN and AU are expected to meet with Sudanese authorities in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 11 and 12 June regarding the planned hybrid force, and the Security Council will hear a briefing on the meeting's outcome prior to its departure for Africa on 14 June...."

C. FRENCH PRESIDENT SARKOZY TO ORGANISE MEETING ON DARFUR

"MM. Sarkozy et Kouchner affichent leur volontarisme sur le Darfour," Le Monde, 8 June 2007,
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3212,36-920636@51-861134,0.html

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at the G8 meeting in Germany that on 25 June there will be an international conference on Darfur in Paris with foreign ministers from countries like China, Egypt and South Africa. Sarkozy said he supported sanctions if negotiations did not succeed. Sudanese officials have refused to participate in any such meeting.

Related articles:

1. "France to host Darfur meeting on June 25," Sudan Tribune, 8 June 2007, http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article22270
2. "France's FM in Sudan for Darfur talks," Sudan Tribune, 11 June 2007,http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article22310
3. "Sudan rebuffs French Darfur meeting," Yahoo News, 11 June 2007,
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MCD128170.htm

D. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH MEDIA STATEMENT

"Sudan: National Courts Have Done Nothing on Darfur," Human Rights Watch, 11 June 2007, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/06/11/sudan16110_txt.htm

"Khartoum's continuing failure to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes in Darfur in Sudanese national courts underscores why Sudan should fulfill its obligation to hand over indicted suspects to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch said today. The Security Council is expected to visit Khartoum on June 17. Sudan's chief justice, Jalal el-Din Mohammed Osman, announced the creation of the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur in order to serve as "a substitute to the International Criminal Court" in June 2005. However, Human Rights Watch documented that only 13 cases had been brought before the courts in their first year of operation. The cases involved low-ranking individuals primarily accused of relatively minor offenses such as theft. None of the crimes charged reflected the massive scale and gravity of the atrocities in Darfur. No senior commanders or superiors were charged for their part in the atrocities.

'The continuing failure of Sudanese courts to bring justice for crimes in Darfur makes ICC prosecutions essential,' said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. 'In discussions with government officials, Security Council members should insist that Khartoum hand over suspects indicted by the ICC.'

In the past year no new cases have been tried before the Special Criminal Courts on the Events in Darfur. On the contrary, two members of Military Intelligence who had been convicted for the murder of a 13-year-old boy, who had been tortured to death while in their custody, were granted amnesty last June. The amnesty was given under Presidential Decree No. 114, which grants a general amnesty. It applies to members of the armed movements that signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, subsequent signatories to the agreement, and parties to tribal conciliations in Darfur. It is not clear how broad the application of the amnesty is or whether it should apply to Sudan's military....'Khartoum's Special Court for Darfur has done even less this year than the year before,' said Darehshori. 'Sudanese officials repeatedly claim that the national courts will try these cases, but no action has been taken whatsoever.'

Since early 2003, tens of thousands of civilians have been assaulted, raped and killed, hundreds of villages destroyed, and approximately 2 million people forcibly displaced by the conflict. Several issues, including broad immunity provisions for members of the armed forces, national security agencies and police, and laws making prosecution of sexual violence difficult, create roadblocks for effective national prosecutions in Sudan. In order for a case to be considered inadmissible before the ICC, a state must show that it is genuinely willing and able to prosecute the crimes in national courts."

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The Coalition for the ICC is not an organ of the court. The CICC is an independent NGO movement dedicated to the establishment of the International criminal court as a fair, effective, and independent International organization. The Coalition will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC and to help coordinate global Action to effectively implement the Rome statute of the ICC. The Coalition will also endeavor to respond to basic queries and to raise Awareness about the ICC's trigger mechanisms and procedures, as they Develop. The Coalition as a whole, and its secretariat, do not endorse or promote specific investigations or prosecutions or take a position on Situations before the ICC. However, individual CICC members May endorse Referrals, provide legal and other support on investigations, or develop Partnerships with local and other organizations in the course of their Efforts.

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